So in addition to being a schmuck, this Supreme Court Justice thinks she should be able to abuse her power too? This is rich...is this the Democrats' idea of justice? This is taking a liberal view of crime too far in my opinion...

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

State of the State Address

Overhauling the tax system that Ohio uses to pay for everything from schools to hospital care for the poor dominated Gov. Bob Taft's seventh State of the State address Tuesday.

The Republican proposed a sweeping change in business taxes so that more companies pay, but at a lower rate. He also proposed to cut by 21 percent the rates on personal income taxes, paid by individuals and businesses. Ohioans who make less than $10,000 a year would pay no state income tax, he said.

"We must slow our spending, get the broken tax code off our backs, and release the powerful energies of this great state," he said.

In his second to last annual address as governor, Taft called on lawmakers to stand tough against industry lobbying groups as they replace a Depression-era system that continues to focus on goods while the state's economy is increasingly services-based.

"We'll all hear the chorus of complaints from the special interests who feel threatened by change," Taft said. "So we must have the courage to prevail. We must remain committed to the very end."

The tax plan would raise $800 million less over two years, for a budget that already will be taking in $4 billion to $5 billion less than the one passed in 2003. He'll look for savings by reducing spending on the state's Medicaid program and keeping budgets tight at most agencies.

Taft, 63, tried to change the tax system two years but was stymied by lawmakers who balked at the price tag and felt they weren't consulted early and often enough.

I'm not impressed. The governor has to get something done. The goal is to reduce taxes altogether, not spread them out over more people.

The article is short on details...I'll have to see what else I can dig up...

3:40PM Update

The Dayton Daily News has the text (registration required) of the speech...I am still unimpressed.

Monday, February 07, 2005

Resnick Update

The only Democrat on the Ohio Supreme Court changed her plea from not guilty to guilty in her appearance in court today. Get the details from ONN:

Justice Resnick plead guilty to the charges against her, OMVI and a marked lanes violation.

Judge Resnick was fined $1,000 for the OMVI and $100 for the marked lanes violation. She was also sentenced to three days either in jail or an alcohol treatment program. Resnick will also be placed on probation for two years.

Friday, February 04, 2005

'Major Development' in Erica Baker Case

A major development in the disappearance of Erica Baker was announced Friday when the Montgomery County prosecutor’s office said an indictment was made in the case.

The Kettering girl disappeared almost six years ago. Investigators said Baker was walking her dog near the Kettering Recreation Center when she suddenly vanished.

Charges have been filed against 33-year-old Christian Gabriel for gross abuse of a corpse and for tampering with evidence. Authorities said they do not exactly what his involvement in Baker’s disappearance was, but believe he may have been the driver of a van that struck Baker near the rec center.

Investigators said that is a theory that has been going around for quite some time.

Now, authorities said Gabriel was in prison on an unrelated charge, but was brought to Dayton and questioned in the case late last year. They said Gabriel was one of 10 witnesses that testified before a private grand jury.

It would be good to get some closure on this story...we had all hoped she would be found alive but after all this time...

College Student's Bill of Rights

Concerned that Ohio college students' young minds are being indoctrinated by left-leaning college faculty, four Republican state senators have introduced an "academic bill of rights for higher education" that would limit what professors could say in their classrooms. It also would give students and faculty a formal grievance procedure if they feel they've been discriminated against.

"I think it's accepted knowledge that most of the faculty at our universities, particularly in the humanities and the social sciences, has a left-wing bias," said state Sen. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana. "Eight or nine out of 10 are Democrats or of the left-leaning persuasion."
...
The president of Wright State University's faculty union called the proposal "ridiculous" and predicted it would not gain enough support to become law.

The bill "threatens the fundamental principles of intellectual freedom by putting restrictions on teaching and academic inquiry," said Paulette Olson, WSU professor of economics and president of the Wright State chapter of the American Association of University Professors. "It is based on the weak premise that faculty members are out there indoctrinating their students with left-wing ideology."
...
Sinclair Community College President Steven Lee Johnson is skeptical that a state academic bill of rights is needed.

"The proportion of faculty squandering their gift of tenure and academic freedom on ideological demagoguery is so small that it is on the very bottom of the list of real problems that we have within our colleges and across our society," Johnson said.

The Sinclair president said the legislation "could very easily be used as a weapon against good and skillful professors."

Wow! What would this all powerful legislation do?

The bill — spearheaded by state Sen. Larry Mumper, R-Marion, and co-sponsored by Jordan, Cates and State Sen. Lynn Wachtmann, R-Napoleon — would require every state-supported college and university in Ohio to:

• Prohibit faculty members and instructors from "persistently introducing controversial matter into the classroom or course work that has no relation to their subject of study" and that serves no educational purpose related to the academic subject;

• Hire, fire and promote faculty based on their "competence and appropriate knowledge in their field of expertise" rather than on their "political, ideological or religious beliefs;" and

•Adopt a grievance procedure by which students or faculty could "seek redress" if they feel they've been discriminated against based on their beliefs and to disclose the grievance procedure in course catalogs, student handbooks and Web sites.

Good God! We're shredding the Constitution! Call off the football game, man, we got serious problems! Cancel classes, we must protest this horrible stomping on of rights!

Lt. Rick Zwayer, a State Highway Patrol spokesman, said Resnick, 65, of Toledo, was pulled over on I-75 south of Bowling Green. He said she failed field sobriety tests and was arrested at 2:02 p.m. Monday in Wood County in northwest Ohio.
...
Resnick's driver's license was automatically suspended because she refused to take a blood-alcohol content test, Zwayer said.

Court officials said there is no automatic disciplinary action when a judge is charged with driving under the influence.

Resnick has been a justice since 1989 and is the court's only Democrat. The court was scheduled to be in session Tuesday.

As Al Gore would say, "Justice Resnick ought to resign IMMEDIATELY!" Or something like that...